A holidaymaker has died after being blown off her feet by a powerful jet blast from a passenger plane at a beach famous for aircraft flying just metres above tourists' heads.

The woman who died, aged 57, reportedly hit her head after being knocked over as people held onto a chain link fence at an airport on the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten. A local official confirmed she was standing near the fence.

Maho Beach is well-renowned for attracting tourists to watch planes land and take-off at Princess Julian Airport, which is known as one of the 'scariest' in the world due to low-flying aircraft.

The beach is located next to the runway on the island of Sint Maarten (Image: The Image Bank)

Rolando Brison, director of tourism for the island, which is divided between France and the Netherlands, said the woman was from New Zealand.

He told the New Zealand Herald: "I met with the family of the deceased ... and while they recognised that what they did was wrong, through the clearly visible danger signs, they regret that risk they took turned out in the worst possible way.